We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

[thesportsguru11]

Quote: Originally Posted by nofx94

Where's the game being played? You sure chew through this thing. I wish you were playing USC. Good luck. Crazy how you had consecutive rematches in reverse.

Like I said last week, I'm all about maximizing the free time I have to do this, so yeah a lot has happened here the last few weeks! But again, things will slow down to a more reasonable pace real soon as the season is just about over, I'm back to school on Sunday evening and have advanced up to Week 1 of next season already, as I'll likely have to wait six weeks to touch the PS3 again. I'm looking forward to the little break I'll have to endure as I'll come back recharged and ready to go!

We're playing at the Coliseum. Your brilliant author thought it would be a cool place to host the Title Game, not noticing/realizing until after I started the playoff that USC could've had a home game with the National Title on the line. Thankfully it didn't turn out that way. Believe me, though, I wish I was playing USC too. It would have been the perfect, most karma-filled way to end the season and officially wrap up the Isaac Jackson "era" of UConn football, having to face Coach Shea and TDL. If not USC, I'm glad (and oddly stunned) at us playing the same teams as last year, like you mentioned. It's absolutely wild how that turned out.

In my opinion, Nebraska is better than last year. I believe they were two points away from being undefeated, plus a lot of that team from last year's playoff bunch is back; they're talented across the board. Zazzarion is a gamer under center, Stewart is a great all around back and Anthony Johnson is one of the top corners in the country. They have great all-around groups at wideout, on the O-Line and in the secondary, so we're in for a great challenge.

Quote: Originally Posted by xboxxerx

All caught up after taking a little break from the forums. Great end of the season so far Guru. That game against GT was A M A Z I N G. Also enjoyed the redemption game against the ducks. Can't wait to see how the Huskers/Huskies game turns out. Good luck man.

Thank you! I'm just as surprised as you guys are how we've rebounded over the second half of the season, rattling off nine straight wins and all.

The Tech game was one of the best in dynasty history, which says a lot considering over 100 games have been played to this point. Back and forth, defensive struggle, late touchdown drives, came down to the last second. You can't ask for much more in a game at this stage in the season!

I thought we were done for against Oregon going down by three scores early like we did and not playing our best football. Nevertheless, we've always been able to find ways out and luckily it happened again - we caught big breaks with McGill leaving early and Nelly missing most of the game, as we probably would've lost (again) had they stayed in.

Revenge is sweet, but I hope we don't befell the same fate at the hands of Nebraska. As I discussed above, they're a great team all the way around with a lot of experience, they're surely motivated after last year too. Our man under center has been playing the most inspired football of his life the past three games, however, and wants this Natty badly. I too want badly to bring back Title #2 to UConn as it's been about 2 1/2 years real time since that first title .. but we'll see what happens!


Thanks to both of you! Hopefully we'll find out this weekend if Title #2 is coming back to Storrs!

[RoundingThird]

Good luck in the Title Game! I found it fascinating that Nebraska hired Scott Frost in the game before they did IRL. That's wicked cool.

[thesportsguru11]

(4) 21 --- 13-2

(2) 28 --- 13-2

FROZEN IN TIME

Ice-Jax cements legacy by orchestrating title winning drive, 22 yard pass to freshman Byrom; UConn takes second national title in a 28-21 instant classic vs. Nebraska; Belichick first coach in twenty years to win national title in first year

Raise your hands, class. When UConn was 3-2 in early October, did anyone seriously expect us to be here? Did UConn look anything like a national championship winning team after a season opening thrashing against Penn State and an ugly home loss to Virginia Tech in October? I didn’t think so.

When you have a guy like Isaac Jackson, who saw to it that history and heartbreak would not repeat itself, I suppose anything is possible. It took one last dip into his magic bag of tricks, one last miracle, but Jackson cemented his place in UConn history with his ability to win at all costs. Ice-Jax capped off the best individual passing season in school history with a return to the pinnacle of college football. He made a great career legendary by playing the three best games of his career in the last and most important ones.

It was the Iceman at his greatest.

With a 28-21 decision over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, UConn won their tenth straight game to erase any memory of their early season losses and claim their second national title in football on Monday night. Both titles have come in the last five years (2017, when Bob Diaco’s squad went an undefeated 15-0).

Much as one would expect and hope for in a National Title Game, the CFP Finale in the L.A. Coliseum was a thriller. Neither team gained a lead of more than eight points throughout the contest and the outcome was not decided until the final minute.

UConn drew first blood on a Jackson touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Nebraska responded by adding an extra-point length field goal on the right leg of Brian Tollspen to make the game 7-3 after a quarter, despite losing starting quarterback Isaac Zazzarion to a sprained ankle on that drive. He’d get taped up and return, but would need to sit out for the rest of the half. Fortunately for Scott Frost’s bunch, the Huskers didn’t miss a beat with backup quarterback Elfrid Harper.

Nebraska went up 10-7 early in the second quarter on an eight yard KaJohntay Stewart touchdown run, and looked to extend their lead when Harper took a shot to the end zone toward freshman Kyle Wimstatt. However, Wimstatt was in double coverage and free safety Tony Rush leapt up in the back of the end zone to intercept the pass. Rush, who has been arguably UConn’s worst defensive player all season with missed tackles galore, made up for it on the big stage by keeping the game within one score.

(LEFT) KaJohntay Stewart was great before leaving the game hurt in the fourth quarter with over 100 yards and a score. (RIGHT) Freshman Kyle Wimstatt’s only catch was a big one - the tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

UConn was unable to score, but would get the ball again shortly before the half - senior corner J.D. Rudie returned a Dylan Wright punt to the Cornhusker 23 yard line to give the Huskies a great chance to score and retake the lead; that was exactly what would happen. After Jackson completed a pass to Lonte’ Speier down to the one-yard line, Luke Williamson plunged in to give the Huskies a 14-10 lead at halftime.

Dodging danger yet again, UConn’s defense held the Huskers to just three points in the third quarter with Harper still in the game. Brett Lowery came up with his fifth sack in three games on a key third down to push the Huskers out of field goal range on one occasion, while Zazzarion barely escaped a safety with an impressive off-balance pass to Wyatt Osterlund as he slid to the turf. Despite that, the drive still ended with a punt. “Our team defense was fantastic”, commented the senior captain John Cox, who led the Huskies with a dozen tackles and an interception on the evening.

Struggling to score for most of the game, UConn finally struck after Tollspen’s second field goal. With the score tight at 14-13, Jackson connected with Speier on a go route; the freshman was left open in an apparent zone coverage and raced past safety Montrell Burnette for a momentum shifting 62 yard score. 21-13 UConn.

Lonte’ Speier made a number of big catches, including this 62 yard touchdown catch and run.

Into the fourth quarter, the two teams traded three and outs before All-American return man Bennie Baling brought a Kyle January punt out to the UConn 42 yard line; great field position down by eight. With Zazzarion having re-entered the game by this point, he stepped up when his team needed him. An eight yard touchdown pass to Wimstatt closed the gap to 21-19, and he also caught the two-point toss to tie up the game, 21-all with six minutes left.

Despite getting up to around midfield on the ensuing drive, Chamarkelle Byrom dropped a pass on third down that would have moved the chains. Neither team could seem to score in the next few minutes. Nebraska went three and out twice, while Jackson threw an interception in plus territory to Matavian Ryder. With about three and a half minutes to play, the Huskers settled in with the ball at their own 35 yard line.

KaJohntay Stewart was in the medical tent being tended to with a lower back injury, so Nebraska had fullback Ronnie Givens in the backfield. He got the ball on first and second downs for three yards followed by no gain, stopped by John Cox. On third down, Nebraska went triple option, Zazzarion pitching to wideout Brian Larson toward the right side of the field with only one man to beat to reach the first down marker and perhaps push Nebraska to field goal range. Safety Vic Castalanetta had other ideas. The redshirt sophomore was able to drag down Larson as a yard shy of the sticks and forced fourth down, more importantly a Nebraska punt.

UConn needed to travel 67 yards in two minutes and seven seconds to take the lead and possibly win the game and the title. Exit lights - enter sandman. Poor Nebraska. They never stood a chance.

Jackson immediately hit Speier for a gain of 16. Following an incompletion, Jackson lofted a pass to Byrom, who hauled it in for a gain of 30 that pushed UConn to the brink of the red zone. UConn got a momentary scare when Speier dropped a pass that would’ve moved the chains again, and then a first down run from Luke Williamson was negated by a holding call against freshman guard Korey Davis-Love, pushing UConn back to the 31-yard line. No matter for Ice-Jax. Ryne Thomas made a catch over the top for a ten yard pickup, and then Byrom out to the right side, hauling in the pass around the seven yard line. Matched up against All-American corner Anthony Johnson all game, the freak freshman athlete from Minnesota was definitely overmatched for much of the game. It would be Byrom who got the last laugh, though. Lowering his shoulder after the catch, Byrom sent Johnson to the turf as the two were angled to the right sideline. Byrom turned upfield, took a few steps then dove at the pylon to avoid the pursuit of linebacker Terrance Porter.

TOUCHDOWN UCONN!

Anthony Ricciardi’s extra point gave UConn the 28-21 advantage. In just one minute’s time, Ice-Jax advanced UConn 67 yards for the go-ahead score.

Chamarkelle Byrom’s winning touchdown reception.

Nebraska would get the ball back, but on the very first play of their drive Isaac Zazzarion was intercepted by middle linebacker Mike Hill with Osterlund as the intended target.

Williamson, fittingly perhaps, picked up a first down on the next play to put a nice little bow on UConn’s second national title.

Confetti rained down on the L.A. Coliseum field to celebrate UConn, and their hero. Jackson was merely average in this contest - 13-27 passing for 280 yards (two yards shy of 4,000 on the year), two touchdowns and two interceptions as well.

But none of that mattered because Ice-Jax showed up when he was needed most. He carried the team on his shoulder on the big stage with no hesitation. And it ended beautifully.

“I’m really going to miss that kid”, commented Coach Belichick. “He never panicked when things got tough - I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to throw that interception in the fourth but he fought back and we pulled it off.” Belichick himself made history by becoming the first first-year head coach since Miami’s Larry Coker 20 years earlier to win a national title in year one. “That record doesn’t matter to me. All I wanted was the national title for our guys. They all could have abandoned ship or put their heads down when Bob [Diaco] left or when we were 3-2 in October, but they listened to us and worked hard, played within themselves and were great all year. Now here we are!”

Jackson looked up to the sky and nearly choked up when talking to reporters after the game. “I can’t believe it. We did it. Last year really hurt.. It would have hurt more to have it end this way again. I'm the happiest guy in the world right now. I love Coach and I love our guys. We did it together.”

In what will go down as a title game for the ages filled with twists, turns, heroes rising and falling plus a dramatic finish, it was one man who made all the difference. The Iceman cometh, and the Iceman delivereth a championship.

UConn still has a football team, too.

Nebraska Cornhuskers at Connecticut Huskies
Jan 10, 2022	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#4 Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-2)	3	7	3	8	21
#2 Connecticut Huskies (13-2)	7	7	7	7	28

Team Stats Comparison
	NEB	CONN
Total Offense	421	389
Rushing Yards	233	109
Passing Yards	188	280
First Downs	22	15
Punt Return Yards	41	66
Kick Return Yards	0	60
Total Yards	462	515
Turnovers	3	2
3rd Down Conversion	7-17 (41%)	7-15 (46%)
4th Down Conversion	0-0	0-0
2-Point Conversion	1-1	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-1 (75%)	4-2-0 (50%)
Penalties	0-0	3-32
Possession Time	18:34	17:26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
4:53	(CONN) Jackson 3 run (Ricciardi kick)	0	7
2:01	(NEB) Tollspen 20 FG	3	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
8:49	(NEB) Stewart 8 run (Tollspen kick)	10	7
1:10	(CONN) Williamson 1 run (Ricciardi kick)	10	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
2:41	(NEB) Tollspen 43 FG	13	14
2:01	(CONN) Jackson 62 pass Speier (Ricciardi kick)	13	21
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
6:27	(NEB) Zazzarion 8 pass Wimstatt (conversion good)	21	21
:58	(CONN) Jackson 22 pass Byrom (Ricciardi kick)	21	28

Nebraska Cornhuskers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Isaac Zazzarion 13-23 107 1 1 Elfrid Harper 8-10 81 0 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD KaJohntay Stewart 18 118 6.5 1 Isaac Zazzarion 15 103 6.8 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Wyatt Osterlund 5 60 12.0 0 Brian Larson 5 43 8.6 0 Ronnie Givens 4 14 3.5 0 Jonathan Covey 2 21 10.5 0 Kyle Wimstatt 1 8 8.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Matavian Ryder 12 (1) 0 1 0 Terrance Porter 8 (1) 0 0 0 Montrell Burnette 7 (1) 0 0 0 Stevie Washbrunn 6 (3) 1 0 0 Brad Collins 3 (1) 1 0 0 Claude Fontenot 2 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Brian Tollspen 2-2 1-1 7 44

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Isaac Jackson 13-27 280 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Luke Williamson 28 86 3.3 1 J.P. Byers 7 42 5.9 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Lonte' Speier 4 120 30.0 1 Ryne Thomas 4 61 15.2 0 Chamarkelle Byrom 2 52 26.0 1 Devin Brown 2 44 22.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD John Cox 12 (1) 0 1 0 Mike Hill 11 (1) 0 1 0 James Mandrell 7 (4) 1 0 0 Jevon Sapp 5 (1) 0 0 0 Tony Rush 5 0 1 0 Brett Lowery 4 (3) 2 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Anthony Ricciardi 0-0 4-4 4

NEXT: Season 8 Wrap-Up

“Our team defense was fantastic”, said John Cox (LEFT). He and Tony Rush (RIGHT) recorded critical interceptions that kept points off of the Nebraska scoreboard, while UConn recorded four sacks of Elfrid Harper and Isaac Zazzarion.

Mike Hill records the clinching interception.

----------------------------------------

Quote: Originally Posted by RoundingThird

Good luck in the Title Game! I found it fascinating that Nebraska hired Scott Frost in the game before they did IRL. That's wicked cool.

Minus the stop at UCF, yeah the game predicted this one really well; I agree that was really cool to see. Frost got hired early in this dynasty, so I had forgotten about it until we played them and I noticed. He had been hired for just a few days by that point.

And looking ahead, this offseason we're going to see something else happen in terms of coaching that happened in real-life, too! I wonder how the game knows these things...

[whughes]

Ice-Jax strikes again! He may not be the greatest UConn quarterback ever talent wise, but the kid sure was fun to watch play. No doubt a first round draft pick come April. Congrats on natty numero dos Guru

[RoundingThird]

Congratulations, buddy, you did it!!!!!! Feel the UConn love!!!! So proud of you

[itsbigmike]

What a season! Congrats on the title!

[thesportsguru11]

Around the NCAA: 2021 Wrap-Up

Bowl Map

Bowl	Teams/Result	Score
Sports Authority Bowl Denver	Arkansas State (10-4) def. #21 Kentucky (9-4)	42-13
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Toledo (8-6) def. Boise State (6-7)	24-16
Dish Network Poinsettia Bowl	BYU (9-4) def. San Diego State (9-4)	35-13
Tropicana St. Petersburg Bowl	Florida Atlantic (8-5) def. New Mexico (8-5)	34-31
CenturyLink New Orleans Bowl	Troy (8-5) def. Texas State (9-4)	45-24
Amazon Las Vegas Bowl	Fresno State (10-4) def. Washington State (6-7)	35-25
Sheraton Aloha Bowl	Southern Miss (10-3) def. Hawai'i (6-7)	30-14
Ford Motor City Bowl	Illinois (7-6) def. Central Michigan (7-6)	38-31
CitiBank Military Bowl	Florida State (7-6) def. Buffalo (7-6)	42-10
Chevron Holiday Bowl	#11 UCLA (10-3) def. #25 Texas (8-5)	49-32
Nassau Paradise Island Bahamas Bowl	#13 Pitt (10-3) def. Middle Tennessee St. (7-6)	45-35
Camping World Independence Bowl	Navy (10-4) def. Clemson (7-6)	42-21
Target Bowl Minneapolis	#20 Ohio State (10-4) def. Army West Point (9-4)	52-7
Phillips 66 Bluebonnet Bowl	Michigan State (8-5) def. Baylor (7-6)	35-30
Cessna Armed Forces Bowl	Air Force (9-4) def. Old Dominion (8-6)	20-17
Intel Silicon Valley Classic	Syracuse (7-6) def. #15 Temple (9-3)	38-24
Valero Alamo Bowl	#23 TCU (9-4) def. Georgia (6-7)	24-20
Buffalo Wild Wings Cactus Bowl	Houston (9-4) def. #17 Penn State (8-5)	43-14
Dollar General Music City Bowl	Notre Dame (7-6) def. Arkansas (7-6)	45-31
Sysco Sun Bowl	#10 Virginia Tech (10-3) def. Arizona State (7-6)	34-20
Garden State Bowl	#19 Michigan (9-4) def. Ball State (7-6)	45-17
Fidelity Financial Bowl	Tulsa (7-6) def. Tennessee (8-5)	28-24
NextEra Energy Citrus Bowl	#16 NC State (10-3) def. Florida (8-6)	40-27
AutoNation Cigar Bowl	#18 Wisconsin (9-4) def. Missouri (7-6)	40-21
AutoZone Liberty Bowl	North Texas (10-4) def. Vanderbilt (6-7)	37-33
Windy City Chicago Bowl	UTEP (8-5) def. USF (6-7)	38-21
Hall of Fame Classic	Louisiana (8-5) def. #24 Miami (OH) (11-3)	15-14
NEW YEAR'S SIX
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	#14 UCF (11-3) def. #6 North Carolina (10-3)	48-20
Farmers Insurance Rose Bowl	#5 Cal (11-2) def. #12 Minnesota (9-4)	49-17
Microsoft Fiesta Bowl	#9 Ole Miss (10-3) def. #8 Georgia Tech (10-4)	45-7
Allstate Sugar Bowl	#7 Oklahoma (11-3) def. #22 LSU (9-5)	44-21
Capital One Orange Bowl (Playoff Semifinal)	#2 UConn (12-2) def. #3 Oregon (12-2)	49-37
Goodyear Cotton Bowl (Playoff Semifinal)	#4 Nebraska (13-1) def. #1 USC (11-3)	38-35
CFP National Championship (Los Angeles, CA)	#2 UConn (13-2) def. #3 Nebraska (13-2)	28-21

CAC Record in Bowls: 3-8

Wins:
OC J.J. Mac (RedRaider10) - UTEP - Windy City Chicago Bowl
OC Connor Turley (convict38) - UCF - Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
OC Trent Davis (UKWildcat999) - Southern Miss - Sheraton Aloha Bowl

Losses:
HC Kaelyn Willingham (kswgrad2012) - Washington State - Las Vegas Bowl
HC Bob Trebell (DrGravyBoat) - Hawai'i - Sheraton Aloha Bowl
HC Dale Miller (glunsford) - Vanderbilt - AutoZone Liberty Bowl
HC Quinn Shea (thesportsguru11) - USC - Goodyear Cotton Bowl
OC William Brooks (TheOtherPotterGuy) - Texas State - New Orleans Bowl
OC Max Crenshaw (whughes) - Central Michigan - Ford Motor City Bowl
OC Equanimeous St. Brown Sr. (TheRosterMaster) - MTSU - Bahamas Bowl
OC Jerome Baumann (RaiderAid89) - Ball State - Garden State Bowl

2021 College Football National Awards
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Heisman Memorial Trophy	Chris McGill	RB	Oregon
Walter Camp Award	Chris McGill	RB	Oregon
Maxwell Award	Heath Riley	RB	Army West Point
Chuck Bednarik Award	Freddie McPherson	CB	Texas State
Bronko Nagurski Trophy	Altarri Gardner	DE	UConn
Davey O'Brien Award	Felton Lucien	QB	Mississippi State
Doak Walker Award	Chris McGill	RB	Oregon
Fred Biletnikoff Award	Vincent Scott	WR	North Carolina
John Mackey Award	Tyson Dorsey	TE	South Carolina
Outland Trophy	Jarrett Davis	C	Nebraska
Rimington Trophy	Jarrett Davis	C	Nebraska
Lombardi Award	Altarri Gardner	DE	UConn
Linebacker of the Year	LaTroy Johnson	LB	Virginia Tech
Jim Thorpe Award	Freddie McPherson	CB	Texas State
Lou Groza Award	Michael Therman	K	Baylor
Ray Guy Award	Andrew Fairchild	P	Oregon
Returner of the Year	Adam Malone	WR	Western Kentucky

Coach of the Year: Rick Stockstill, North Carolina
Broyles Award: Gary Patterson, DC, Oregon

2021 NCAA 1st Team All-Americans
Pos	Player Name	Ht	Wt	Year
QB	Tanner Dean-Lowry, USC			Sr.
RB	Chris McGill, Oregon			Sr.
RB	Heath Riley, Army West Point			Sr.
WR	Vincent Scott, North Carolina			Jr.
WR	Patrick Rontemego, UCLA			Sr.
TE	David Reese, Louisiana			Sr.
OT	E.J. Farris, Air Force			Sr.
OT	Andre Anderson, Ohio State			Sr.
G	Anthony Holtby, LSU			Sr.
G	Andrew McClelland, Ole Miss			Sr.
C	Jarrett Davis, Nebraska			Sr.
DE	Altarri Gardner, UConn			Sr.
DE	Duran Charoman, Arkansas State			Sr.
DT	Richard Coker, Arkansas State			Jr.
DT	Patrick Britt, Ohio State			Jr.
LB	CeeCee Jennings, Georgia Tech			Sr.
LB	Napoleon Goolsby, Oregon			Sr.
LB	Steven Hood, LSU			Jr.
CB	Freddie McPherson, Texas State			Sr.
CB	Shavlion Wade, UConn			Jr.
S	Shen Oliver, USC			Sr.
S	Amiq Shannon, Virginia Tech			Jr.
K	Michael Therman, Baylor			Sr.
P	Andrew Fairchild, Oregon			Sr.
RS	Bennie Baling, Nebraska			So.

2021 1st Team All-ACC
Pos	Player Name	Ht	Wt	Year
QB	Austin Douglas, NC State			Sr.
RB	Nate Marshall, NC State			Sr.
RB	Luke Williamson, UConn			Jr.
WR	Vincent Scott, North Carolina			Jr.
WR	Jerald Jenkins, Virginia Tech			Sr.
TE	R.J. Doyle, NC State			Sr.
OT	Alex Love, Pitt			Sr.
OT	Brad Bowers, North Carolina			Jr.
G	Vince Jones, UConn			Sr.
G	Kyle Washington, North Carolina			Jr.
C	Anton Garrison, North Carolina			Sr.
DE	Altarri Gardner, UConn			Sr.
DE	James Mandrell, UConn			Jr.
DT	Richard Gooden, Georgia Tech			Sr.
DT	Tramaine Robinson, North Carolina			Jr.
LB	CeeCee Jennings, Georgia Tech			Sr.
LB	LaTroy Johnson, Virginia Tech			Jr.
LB	Thomas Willis, UConn			Sr.
CB	Kavonte Bullock, NC State			Jr.
CB	Shavlion Wade, UConn			Jr.
S	Davondre Wooten, Virginia Tech			Jr.
S	Amiq Shannon, Virginia Tech			Jr.
K	Anthony Ricciardi, UConn			Fr.
P	Craig Pierce, Georgia Tech			Fr.
RS	Sonny Thompson, Virginia Tech			Sr.

Others:

2nd Team All-American: Anthony Ricciardi, K
Freshman All-American: WR Lonte’ Speier, OG Korey Davis-Love, LB Jevon Sapp, K Anthony Ricciardi
2nd Team All-ACC: WR Lonte’ Speier, TE Ryne Thomas, LT Kevin Jones, LB Mike Hill, LB John Cox, CB Sam Barnett, SS Vic Castalanetta

National Leaders:

QBR
191.2, Tanner Dean-Lowry, USC
182.7, Nelly DeWeaver, Oregon
181.7, Felton Lucien, Mississippi State
181.4, Austin Douglas, NC State
181.3, J.J. Cooley, UCLA

Pass Completions
287, Brannon Piello, San Diego State
280, Justyce Tryson, Oklahoma
268, Isaac Jackson, UConn
255, Jamar Goddard, UAB
249, Tanner Dean-Lowry, USC

Pass Attempts
475, Jamar Goddard, UAB
459, Justyce Tryson, Oklahoma
454, Parker Bourrie, Michigan State
454, Brannon Piello, San Diego State
441, Jay Fuqua, Virginia Tech

Pass Yards
3998, Isaac Jackson, UConn
3970, Justyce Trsyon, Oklahoma
3667, Brannon Piello, San Diego State
3521, Tanner Dean-Lowry, USC
3430, Austin Douglas, NC State

Passing Touchdowns
39, Darius Britt, Tennessee
39, Will Mock, Texas State
38, J.J. Cooley, UCLA
36, Justyce Tryson, Oklahoma
36, Jonathan Silas, Penn State

Rush Attempts
407, Luke Williamson, UConn
366, Drew Britt, Miami-OH
359, Jonathan Hart, Buffalo
337, Winfield Nash, Air Force
304, Eddie West, Boise State

Rush Yards
2463, Drew Britt, Miami-OH
2237, Winfield Nash, Air Force
2161, Ryan Herring, Ohio State
2133, Heath Riley, Army West Point
2084, Jonathan Hart, Buffalo

Rush Touchdowns
26, Heath Riley, Army West Point
25, Winfield Nash, Air Force
25, Matthew Shelby, New Mexico
24, Chris McGill, Oregon
22, Luke Williamson, UConn

Receptions
104, Leroy Bell, San Diego State
102, Clint Sinai, Wake Forest
98, Michael Skinner, USC
95, Myron Ryan, Utah
91, Jeff Dotson, Fresno State

Receiving Yards
1550, Michael Skinner, USC
1428, Myron Ryan, Utah
1369, Vince Bush, Texas State
1335, Nick Bass, Mississippi State
1302, Lonte’ Speier, UConn

Receiving Touchdowns
19, Patrick Rontemego, UCLA
16, Anthony Gardner, Akron
15, Vincent Scott, North Carolina
14, Ryan Green, Cal
14, Inoke Meliloka, Texas State

Tackles
112, LaTroy Johnson, Virginia Tech
110, Clayton Johnson, Ohio State
106, Duran Charoman, Arkansas State
105, Napoleon Goolsby, Oregon
103, Alex Wahlgren, Clemson

Tackles for Loss
35, Duran Charoman, Arkansas State
29, Patrick Reid, Western Kentucky
28, Jonathan Sims, Virginia Tech
28, LaTroy Johnson, Virginia Tech
27, Michael Coley, Wyoming

Sacks
ETA: I don't have a top five for sacks, but Altarri Gardner (UCONN) led the nation with 18.

Interceptions
11, Freddie McPherson, Texas State
9, Shavlion Wade, UConn
8, Santonio Bennett, West Virginia
7, Ryan Robinson, North Texas
7, Kavonte Bullock, NC State

Punting Average
45.3, Landon Burke, Oklahoma
45.0, Cedric Johnson, Washington
44.9, Ellis Smitaman, Alabama
44.8, Peter Mirvil, New Mexico
44.8, Jason Anderson, Texas State

Next: CAC Season Recap/CAC Coach of the Year Award (and no it's not going to Coach Shea)

---------------------------------

Quote: Originally Posted by whughes

Ice-Jax strikes again! He may not be the greatest UConn quarterback ever talent wise, but the kid sure was fun to watch play. No doubt a first round draft pick come April. Congrats on natty numero dos Guru

Quote: Originally Posted by RoundingThird

Congratulations, buddy, you did it!!!!!! Feel the UConn love!!!! So proud of you

Quote: Originally Posted by itsbigmike

What a season! Congrats on the title!

Thanks to all of you! I certainly feel like I deserved this one a little less than Natty #1 because of our two losses, but we got hot at the right time and rattled off ten straight to do it.

While Williamson and J.P. Byers led us to the Playoff with their incredible performances in the second half of the season, Ice-Jax won us this national title. The backs struggled mightily in the ACC Title Game and both playoff games; without Ice-Jax bailing us out, we would not have gotten to the playoff, much less won it.

I'm not sure about a first round pick for him because there is a ridiculously deep quarterback class this spring with about fifteen guys who could be first round picks, but we'll certainly follow his progress. I've got an update coming soon regarding how some of our already drafted guys have done and how Diaco's first season in London went.

Nevertheless, along with the other redshirt seniors in particular, I'm extremely sad to see Ice-Jax go. I remember recruiting him a long time ago, and to see how he went from second string in his own recruiting class to national title winning beast has been extremely rewarding and fun. He was able to top some of Orlovsky's records that I wasn't sure would ever be broken, at least in this dynasty, so I think he has a case to be the best or second best quarterback in school history. The kid who is going replace him, Jordan Brown, might turn out better than he did skills wise but no one will ever match the drive to win and the clutch performances, that's for sure.

[Hellisan]

Joining the chorus of congratulations on the national title. They played great run defense, forcing you to the air a bit, and you made just enough big plays. Love the story lines you put together here, and interesting to see what will happen with Hoodie Jr. (do they have a hoodie in this game, I think so!).